Since 2023, MedTechLabs organises a hybrid course in acute stroke, diagnosis, and treatment. The course is Lipus-certified and is aimed at residents and specialists who are interested in learning more about stroke and cerebral ischemia. One of them is Kristoffer Linder, a specialist in neurology at Capio S:t Görans Hospital, in Stockholm.

Hi Kristoffer, why did you choose to take our course?

I thought it sounded like an interesting approach, it was not like any course I had taken before. I got a tip about it via an email from a colleague. I thought that when you work in an acute hospital that receives a lot of acute stroke cases, it might be valuable to attend. In the hospital where I work, we take care of almost 1,000 patients with stroke or TIA every year. I also saw that there were many interesting names as lecturers as well, such as Håkan Almqvist, Åsa Kunze and Mikael Mazya. Trusted and knowledgeable course leaders give high credibility.

What do you think about the course organisation?

I think they have chosen a good division and balance between the radiology and the clinical parts of the stroke panorama, including a review of trobectomy. For me, it was good and important that you can take the course at your own pace. You watch the videos when you have time and can pause and go back through the material as needed. Otherwise, it can be difficult to get through longer course sections when you are busy at work.

What has the course given you?

The part where you had X-rays available and the opportunity to look at them yourself was very valuable to me. You can’t get that any other way. Of course, there are many databases and websites with X-rays, but here you could scroll through the material and at the same time get the necessary information about the symptoms, how long it’s been since the illness and so on. I have been a specialist for two years and have been working with stroke patients since I became a doctor more than ten years ago, but it was very good to be able to get this refresher course. The investigation and treatment of stroke has changed a lot in recent years but it’s also good to go back to basics, which this course also addresses.

Who do you think should take the course and why?

Can I answer everyone? Primarily those who are in training or already working as doctors. Both residents and specialists who have been working for a while can benefit greatly from the course. The course is good for updating your knowledge. I think it is also valuable for medical and radiologists working with stroke cases.

Welcome to an exciting seminar with Rolf Behling, one of the world's leading experts on x-ray sources for medical imaging and author of the book "Modern Diagnostic X-Ray Sources" (CRC press).

Title: Modern Diagnostic X-Ray Sources

Speaker: Rolf Behling, Department of Physics, KTH Royal Institute of Technology

Time: Monday June 3, 15.15-17.00, with time for questions afterwards

Location: FA32 (Albanova main building, third floor, opposite to the restaurant) and also on Zoom https://kth-se.zoom.us/j/63062020009

Abstract:
More than 100,000 diagnostic X-ray tubes are being newly installed or replaced year on year. Tubes for dental application, non-destructive testing and material analytics add to this number. This lecture will help to improve understanding the physics of X-ray production, in particular for “clinical” diagnostics. It will discuss functional principles of modern X-ray sources, design aspects, special features, radiation protection, and manufacturing technology. Why is vacuum technology not at all outdated? Will we find the X-ray LED, compact X-ray Laser machines or other alternative sources soon? Which breakthrough development is our group at KTH aiming at? The lecture may spark fascination for these vacuum electronic light sources off-the-mainstream.

In Sweden, more than 18,000 people suffer an acute ischaemic stroke every year. With correct and rapid treatment of stroke, both lives are saved, and the affected person can avoid lifelong disability, something that both provides increased quality of life for the patient and saves big money for society. The new treatment options that have emerged over the past decade require more knowledge in healthcare, which is one reason for the new course offered through MedTechLabs.

The course “Acute stroke, diagnostics and treatment” organised by MedTechLabs started in October 2023. The course is aimed at residents and specialists who want to train in this area to better follow the national recommendations and guidelines for examination and treatment of stroke and TIA. The new course was offered to doctors in Region Stockholm as well as in other parts of the country and was quickly oversubscribed.

We spoke with Håkan Almqvist, senior physician and neuroradiologist at Capio St Göran, who is responsible for the course. Håkan has worked almost all his professional life with stroke, first at SÖS and later as a neuroradiologist at Karolinska and has followed the modern development of how to find and eliminate thrombi/embolisms since the late 90s.

Hi Håkan, can you tell us a bit about the course and why it is given?

“The course aims to provide knowledge about the benefits of acute reperfusion therapy within 24 hours in several patient groups, including those with relatively large established infarcts. The management and assessment of TIA is also included in the course. “The biggest problem with stroke care is still that patients come in too late, so it’s important that everyone in the community knows that help is available and picks up the phone if they have symptoms. But we in the healthcare chain also need to be on our toes and know what is needed for the patients. We must dare to be rational and inclusive, even if there is a low probability of stroke. Because it can be difficult to know whether your judgement is correct. Doctors need to see many cases to become skilled in their judgement and that takes time, especially in a smaller hospital.”

How do you deliver the course?

“In the first round, we offer it free of charge to 40 participants who receive around 30 video lectures and case study material with commentary, which we distribute using Collective Minds Radiology and their radiological imaging system. It is up to the student how much time they spend on that part, but I would say it is about two and a half days, at their own pace. In addition to this, we have a mandatory physical meeting in the form of a seminar in Stockholm where case studies are discussed. The knowledge check takes place at this seminar and active participation is required to obtain the course certificate.”

Who came up with the idea for this course?

“Many of us realised early on that there was a lack of continuing education for the new forms of examination and treatment that have emerged in the field. When MedTechLabs started, it was realised that there was a need for training in the region. Professor Staffan Holmin, together with KTH professor Mats Danielsson, saw an opportunity for the centre to contribute to and provide training. “As early as 2018, we started recording parts of the material that is now used in the course, along with new material in 2023. The pandemic and questions about which platform to use have meant that it has taken some time.”

What do you think has made the course so popular?

“The course only corresponds to a few days where you choose when for about 1 month. That certainly has an impact. But it is up to the student how much time they spend. I think long courses are becoming more difficult to attract. That we have a hybrid approach with self-study with lectures and being able to browse cases combined with a physical seminar with the teachers. A course must also be able to provide both a course certificate and an ST certificate. This is probably exactly what many doctors are looking for in terms of continuing education.”

When will you hold the course next time?

“This is the first time we have held it, and we will of course further develop it based on the feedback we receive from the course participants. Then we will see how many times a year is reasonable. It is also a question for Region Stockholm, which this time allowed doctors from other regions to attend free of charge. But hopefully we will also organise the course in 2024.”

SVT – the Swedish national broadcasting company – highlights the impact of research on AI for breast cancer detection in mammography, conducted by MedTechlabs researchers Kevin Smith and Fredrik Strand. Also, Lancet published a scientific article on the study conducted at Capio Sankt Göran Hospital in Stockholm.

What differences in cancer detection and unnecessary recalls are the results of various combinations of AI and radiologists? Lancet Digital Health has published the results of a prospective clinical trial conducted in Stockholm.

MedTechLabs researcher Fredrik Strand is surprised at how accurate the AI was and says that the potential for AI to handle most of the screen-reading is huge.

Karin Dembrower is chief physician and medical director of the Mammography Department at Capio S:t Göran’s Hospital where the clinical study was conducted. She is very satisfied with the results.

– We found slightly more cancer and recalled fewer women who turned out to be healthy, so we made fewer women worried. And we freed up time for the radiologists to do other diagnostics than looking at mostly healthy women’s images. We have managed to cut the queues considerably so we are a queue-free breast centre now, she says in the feature.

The AI-assisted breast cancer detection system has been operational since summer 2023 at St Göran’s Hospital in Stockholm.

– We have shown that our AI technology works on St Göran and their equipment. But that doesn’t mean that any AI will work on all equipment, so it’s something you need to check before introducing it, says Fredrik Strand in the same feature.

Watch the tv-feature here (in Swedish)

Read the Article in Lancet Digital Health here (full text)